FLV - Full Length Vee

The Full Length Vee's (FLV) are definitely the most significant change to my bottom contours since the introduction of concaves back in the early 90's. If you think they might be similar to the old 70's and 80's style vee bottoms, then think again. They are nothing like them at all, design wise, and especially performance wise. 

I built myself the first FLV's last year, 2017, and the first thing I noticed was how well the boards recaptured the beautiful, smooth rail to rail transition of a vee bottom, but still retained the squirt, bite and acceleration of a concave.  

But as with any new design there are always a lot of things to work out. So, since then, I have spent hundreds of hours tweaking, refining and building numerous FLV bottom boards. Tweaking the depth and profile of the vees, the concave panels within them, and fine tuning the volume distribution, rocker contour and fin positions of the boards.

And I have to say that these new FLV contoured boards are the best boards I have ever built and surfed.


What is Full Length Vee - FLV?

In it's current configuration, the Full Length Vee starts under the nose as a subtle rolled vee that splits into a concave vee as it moves down the board. The concaves intensify as they move towards the fins and then transition into a rolled vee behind the fins.


Why does it work so well?

The rolled vee under the nose, creates minimum resistance to the water flowing onto the nose, which improves the boards glide and forward trim. It also keeps the nose rail feeling free and minimises the nose rail catching.

As we start moving towards the tail, the rolled vee then splits into a concave vee under the forward part of the of the board. This improves rail to rail transitions, and allows the board to naturally sit easier on the face of the wave.

Then as we move more towards the fins, the concave intensifies in the vee panels focusing the water towards the fins, generating the squirt and bite that gives the board it's acceleration and hold thru turns.


Also, because the concaves are sitting within a vee, the board sits easier up on its rail through the turns, as opposed to a single or double concave which tends to make boards sit flat in turns.

Behind the fins, the concave vee then transitions into a very subtle rolled vee out, allowing the water to get away easier, reducing drag making the board feel friendlier in the water and smoother thru turns.










* Reasonable conditions apply.


Jim Banks

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